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Lincoln - A Biopic of Unparalleled Magnificence

Steven Spielberg -- the master of spectacle -- don't need an introduction or more accolades. He is famous for his alien and dinosaur movies. But, it's also high-time to acknowledge him as the great actor's director. Twenty years ago, Liam Neeson cemented his reputation under the direction of Spielberg in "Schindler's List." Now, his latest historical epic bestows us with a multi-nuanced performance of Daniel Day-Lewis -- two time Oscar Winner. Delivering an unimpeachable performance as the United States most revered president, Lewis has lived as "Lincoln" (2012). The masterful drama, "Lincoln" also does one thing which is kind of impossible to achieve : Spielberg has made politics exciting.

Lincoln isn't your traditional biopic. The movie was originally envisioned as the sprawling biopic covering the entirety of the 16th President’s life. But, thankfully the movie was focuses on the intense final
months of Lincoln’s second term, in which he successfully passed the
13th Amendment to the Constitution, thus ending slavery, and brought the
Civil War to an end before being assassinated. Spielberg shows Lincoln's private and public struggle to
free both the slaves and end the war.

The film opens with mud and blood in the American civil war battlefield, where Union and Confederate soldiers are hacking and slashing
at each other. After powerfully depicting the violence of war at its hand-to-hand ugliest, we see through the floor of congress. Even though, there is no blood spilled here, another war -- a cold war -- was going on in the
Capitol’s sacred halls, this one fought with bullying ornateness, angry
denunciations, sharp attacks, and plenty of behind-the-scenes wheeling
and dealing. The president, Lincoln is in a duel dilemmas: how to bring the war between the states
to an end, and how to eradicate slavery, once and for all.

In the House of Representatives, he needs to pass the 13th amendment (to abolish slavery). To attain this, he must avert even a
single Republican defection and gain at least 20 votes from Democrats. Apart from the president no one thinks the
Amendment stands a chance of passing in the Senate and the House, and many thinks that the
Emancipation Proclamation was only a wartime measure. Lincoln is relentless, “I am the President of the United States of America,
clothed in immense power. You will procure me these votes,” he
orders. The movie is all about his tactics, some of which would be considered
"dirty" (even though not by today's dubious standards).

Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner has based their story from Doris Kearns Goodwin's history book "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln." Only few writers could make politics as compelling as Kushner does here. The gifted Pulitzer Prize winning screenwriter has --previously collaborated with Spielberg on the
2005 Oscar nominated “Munich,” -- done a commendable job of
clarifying the positions and personalities of the two dozen or so
political players. By showcasing Lincoln's most momentous stark moments, both Spielberg and Kushner has uncovered the unpredictably human nature of a
democracy’s greatest battle in action. Janusz Kaminski's conservative framing -- Spielberg's favorite cinematographer -- recalls the heavily shadowed Renaissance paintings. He adds a lot to the rich feel of the superbly detailed production design by Rick Carter (another Spielberg regular).

Director Spielberg, has earlier admitted that he has been obsessed with the 16th president
since he was a boy. As an auteur, he has clearly honored the man and has made a motion picture befitting his stature. His attempts at
revealing the human side of Lincoln is the movie's grandest moments, thanks to Daniel's exemplary performance and the cast that surrounds him. There are some Spielberg’s visual
hallmarks, particularly the ethereal blown-out windows and the sharp
juxtaposition of light and dark, though he has mostly adopted a more
nuanced and highly restrained directorial style that gives the actors
plenty of room to work.

Daniel Day-Lewis' Lincoln comes forth as a man of many faces, a
figure of raw paradoxes and contradictions. He presents Lincoln as the playful
storyteller, a great raconteur, a fierce power broker, a shrewd
commander in chief, a vulnerable father and a loving yet ruthless
husband. Lewis carries the weight of history at the same time he is also
rooted in the day-to-day emergencies of statesmanship."Lincoln" has a stupendous amount of supporting actors, and despite being enormous it never feels
overwhelming. Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln is an loving, but
emotionally unstable wife. Sally perfectly exhibits Mary's greatest fear, which is losing another child to
the war. Tommy Lee Jones as the radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens comes very close to stealing the movie with a performance of
ethical purity and calm. I hope he bags the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

In "Lincoln", Lincoln's life takes a secondary position to the ideological conflict between two opposing ideas -- an end to slavery, or an end to war. So, it is captivating to see what it really took to secure Lincoln's
legacy as the "Great Emancipator." You might have read a lot about Lincoln in history books but there were
things in Spielberg's Lincoln of which you will be surely unaware. This isn't a hagiography, and in the end we are left not with a impenetrable iconic image, but with
a flesh-and-blood man who felt compelled to make something right and
did literally everything in his power to accomplish it.

If you think “Lincoln” is too chatty — too full of ideas and characters, too much for the Twitter-generation, then you better restrict yourself with the unpalatable "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."

Your blog appears to me to be just the perfect place for a movie buff like me. Its not only interesting but very well structured. Kudos !

Interestingly, I just finished watching 'Lincoln' ! Daniel Day-Lewis happens to be my fav. I won't say this was his best, but the man left me wondering, as to how terrific an actor he is. My personal favs from the Lewis factory is 'My Left Foot' and 'There will be Blood'.